O'Malley flush fee hike gets pushback

Gov. Martin O'Malley's bid to hike the "flush fee" to help clean up the Chesapeake Bay got some pushback in Annapolis Tuesday when lawmakers expressed concern about big jumps in what businesses would have to pay under the administration's plan.

Septic limits - Bay saver or assault on property rights?

Gov. Martin O'Malley's retooled proposal to limit development on septic tanks gets a hearing in Annapolis today, along with his other major green initiatives - increasing the "flush fee" to fix wastewater treatment plants and providing ratepayer subsidies to boost offshore wind energy projects.

MD oyster survival best since '85

Fewer oysters died from shellfish diseases in Maryland waters last year than at any time in more than 25 years, state officials report, despite late-summer storms that wiped out bivalves in some upper Chesapeake Bay spots. 

More Inner Harbor trees cut

More trees have been cut down in the Inner Harbor - for bikers and hikers this time, not race car fans.

MD students fight Keystone pipeline

Some of those environmental activists campaigning against the Keystone XL pipeline are on the young side. 

Groups find some localities lag in Bay cleanup plans

A coalition of environmental groups has handed out mixed grades for the Chesapeake Bay cleanup plans every county in Maryland prepared late last year.

MD "on track" to reduce greenhouse gases

Maryland is on track to reduce climate-altering greenhouse gases 25 percent by the end of the decade, according to a state environmental official.

MD's GOP pols in DC get low grades from greens

Maryland's two Republican House members got low marks for their votes on environmental issues in the latest scorecard from the national League of Conservation Voters, which called the GOP-dominated House session last year the "most anti-environmental" in the chamber's history.

Greenpeace ship visits B'more

There's a new ship in the harbor - at least for another day.  Rainbow Warrior III, the signature vessel of Greenpeace, cruised into Baltimore Monday on its maiden voyage to the United States. 

UM's green house earns real green

So it turns out the  University of Maryland's award-winning green home garnered some real green in selling it to Pepco.  The Washington area utility paid $200,000 for WaterShed, the solar-powered, water-recycling dwelling that beat out 19 other university entries to capture the grand prize at last year's Solar Decathlon in Washington

Crane chicks to finish migration by truck

What's that saying about leading a horse to water?  The latest effort to teach Maryland-bred whooping crane chicks to migrate to Florida for the winter has been called off because the endangered birds will no longer follow the ultralight aircraft leading them.

Shark fin trade ban eyed in MD

Some Maryland lawmakers concerned about declining numbers of sharks worldwide have introduced legislation to ban trade in the ocean predators' fins, the prized ingredient in a soup that is popular in Chinese cuisine.

Feds to announce offshore wind move

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar is blowing into B'more Thursday to announce the Obama administration's latest move to boost development of industrial-scale wind energy projects off the mid-Atlantic coast.  He'll be joined at the World Trade Center in the Inner Harbor by Gov.Martin O'Malley and  Tommy P. Beaudreau, director of Interior's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.

UM sells award-winning green home to Pepco

The University of Maryland's award-winning "green" house, WaterShed, has found a permanent home.  Pepco, the Washington area's electric utility, has agreed to buy the solar-powered dwelling and plans to put it on permanent display as both a "living classroom" and an energy testing laboratory, the university announced Monday.

MD sees Bay cleanup costing $7.5 billion by 2017

Maryland officials have filled in the blanks on their draft Chesapeake Bay cleanup plan, and attached an eye-popping pricetag - $7.5 billion over the next five years, and nearly double that by 2025.

In Annapolis, green agenda a "heavy lift"

Environmental activists rallied in Annapolis yesterday evening, as their leaders described this year's General Assembly session as a make-or-break one for restoring the Chesapeake Bay and fighting climate change.

Obama pushes "clean energy," defends environmental rules

President Obama's State of the Union speech to Congress last night focused largely on jobs, taxes and income inequality, but it had plenty of red meat in it for those concerned about energy and the environment.

O'Malley renews bid to limit septic systems

Undeterred by accusations he's waging "war on rural Maryland," Gov. Martin O'Malley has revived legislation aimed at curbing sprawling development built with septic systems.

Study sees wind energy bounty off MD's coast

As Gov. Martin O'Malley introduces a new bill aimed at boosting offshore wind energy development in Maryland, comes a new study saying there's abundant potential for meeting the state's electricity needs in the Atlantic off Ocean City.

UM study hits flaws in MD Smart Growth law

Stop the presses: A new report finds that Maryland's 15-year-old Smart Growth law isn't working very well.

Weekend event: Eco Conference

The American Visionary Art Museum is taking a characteristically fresh and different look at the state of our increasingly crowded planet on Sunday, with a free, day-long Eco Conference featuring presentations from indigenous artists and a variety of scientists, plus a pair of films on mountaintop coal mining and crop circles. (Didn't I say it would be different?)

New year for recycling old phones

It's a new year, time to clean out some of the claptrap from 2011. If you've got any old cell phones lying around, you can drop them off for recycling Friday and Saturday (1/13 & 14) at Mondawmin Mall - and get a $10 gift certificate in the process.

Sex imbalance holding back Bay crabs' rebound?

It's a great time to be a jimmy in the Chesapeake Bay - if you're a blue crab looking for a good time.  There are nearly three times as many female crabs as there are males now, thanks to catch limits imposed by Maryland and Virginia to protect more "sooks" from harvest.

Maryland misses deadline for climate action plan

State officials have missed their first major deadline for complying with a three-year-old law calling for Maryland to curb its emissions of climate-altering greenhouse gases.

CDC scientist urges more study of shale gas drilling

A top federal scientist says more research is needed into possible health and environmental effects from shale gas drilling.